LINKS
(1) 09.09.24: Level 1; Ora Maritima 10[3]; notes
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/08/090924-level-1-ora-maritima-103-notes.html
(2) 28.09.24: Level 2; Ora Maritima [24] and [25] (7); grammar notes; reflexive constructions
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/08/280924-level-2-ora-maritima-24-and-25-7.html
(3) 28.05.25: Level 1; readings [12] - [15]: review (3); possessive adjectives
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/03/280525-level-1-readings-12-15-review-3.html
(4) 16.07.25: Level 3; review: the reflexive pronoun sē
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/04/160725-level-3-review-reflexive-pronoun.html
A reflexive construction is one which refers back to the subject of the sentence.
[1] To express ‘myself’ and ‘yourself’ Latin will use the the accusative, dative or genitive personal pronouns:
Mortī mē obtulī. │ I have exposed myself to death.
Cūr tibi litterās scrīpsistī? │ Why have you written a letter to yourself?
Itaque nōmina inter vōs permūtāstis (Plautus) │ That's how you exchanged names [ = you changed the names between yourselves]
[2] Latin distinguishes the reflexive construction in the 3rd person
[i] the reflexive pronoun sē (himself, herself, itself, themselves); it has no nominative form since it can only refer back to the subject of the sentence
Accusative: sē or sēsē
Cleopatra sē interfēcit │ Cleopatra killed herself.
Compare: Cleopatra eum / eam interfēcit │ Cleopatra killed him / her
Sē ex nāvī prōiēcit (Caesar) │ He threw himself from the ship
Dumnorīgem ad sē vocat (Caesar) │ He calls Dumnorix to him [i.e. to himself]
Sēsē castrīs tenēbant (Caesar) │ They kept themselves in the camp [as opposed to: Eōs castrīs tenēbant │ They kept them (another group) in the camp]
Genitive: suī
Ut Seneca philosophus dīxit, īra brevis īnsānia et impotēns suī est. │ As the philosopher Seneca said: anger is a brief madness and has no control of itself / power over itself.
Habētis ducem … oblītum suī │ You have a leader … forgetful of himself
Dative: sibi
Hominem sibi cārum audivit. │ He heard a man (who was) dear to him(self) i.e. dear to the person who heard
Ablative: sē (or sēsē)
Caesar, postquam hostēs superāvit, litterās ad senātum dē sē mīsit, 'Vēnī, vīdī, vīcī.' │ After he conquered the enemy, Caesar sent a letter to the senate about himself, ‘I came, I saw, I conquered.'
As with the ablative of the other personal pronouns, when sē is used with cum, the preposition is attached to the end of the pronoun i.e. sēcum
Prīmum sēcum dīxit: “Iste bombus aliquid significat.” (Winne Ille Pu) │ First of all he said to himself “That buzzing means something” [Note: Latin literally says with himself]
Examples:
inter sē cōnflīgunt │ they contend with each other [ = between themselves]
in Amphitruōnis vertit sēsē imāginem (Plautus) │ He (Jupiter) has turned himself into the image of Amphitryon
nam ubi parturit, deōs sibi invocat (Plautus) │ As soon as her time comes she calls on the gods to help her [ = she summons the gods to herself]
At ut scelesta sōla sēcum murmurat (Plautus) │ Hear the old criminal mumbling away to [ = with] herself, though!
[ii] suus, -a, -um: declines in exactly the same way as meus, -a, -um i.e. like a 1st / 2nd declension adjective. It means ‘his, her, its, their’ but refers back to the subject i.e. the implication, even if not always translated, is his own, her own etc.
Like the other possessive adjectives, suus etc. will agree in gender, number and case with the noun ‘owned’:
Mātrem suam amat│ (S)he / she loves his / her (own) mother
Liberōs suōs amant │ They love their (own) children
Compare:
Mātrem eius timet │ (S)he / she fears his / her (somebody else’s) mother
Līberōs eōrum in vinculīs habēbat │ He had their (somebody else’s) children in chains
Examples from Plautus:
iussit vel nōs ātriēnsem vel nōs uxōrem suam dēfraudāre │ HE gave us orders to deceive the steward, or else HIS wife [i.e. not the steward’s wife, but the wife of the man who gave the order]
cupiō esse amīcae quod det argentum suae │ I desire that HE gives some money TO HIS mistress.
Hic* nunc domī servit suō patrī │ He is now at home, a slave to his (own) father; *note: the translator neatly conveys hic as: “Now here he is …” i.e. pointing to him
Tēloboae contrā ex oppidō legiōnēs ēdūcunt suās │ And from the city, too, the Teloboians led out their legions
Quia salūtāre advenientem mē solēbās antidhāc, appellāre, itidem ut pudīcae suōs virōs quae sunt solent │ Because till to-day you used to welcome me as I was arriving and greet me as modest (women / wives) generally do their husbands
servat mē ille suīs periūriīs │ that man is saving me by perjuring himself [ = literally: by his own perjuries / false oaths]
Note: Unlike sē, which has no nominative case, suus, -a, -um can also be found in the nominative case when emphasising one’s own rather than somebody else’s, or referring back to a person in a previous statement. In the examples below a person is mentioned (1) and then a second statement is made referring back to that person (2). In other words, although (1) is not the subject of the second statement, the use of suus indicates that (2) is referring to that person.
(1) Nōbīscum hic perhonōrificē et peramīcē Octāvius. (2) Quem quidem suī Caesarem salūtābant (Cicero) │ (1) Octavius is here with us on terms of respect and friendship. (2) His own (people) address him as Caesar
Dē frātre satis. (1) Dē eius iuvene fīliō, indulsit illī quidem (2) suus pater semper (Cicero) │ Enough about (my) brother. (1) As for his young son, (2) his father has certainly always indulged him.
(1) C. Flāminius… invītō senātū … ad populum lēgem agrāriam ferēbat. Hunc ¦ (2) pater suus ¦ concilium plēbis habentem dē templō dēdūxit (Cicero) │ (1) Caius Flaminius …against the consent of the senate … proposed an agrarian law to the people. While he was holding an assembly of the people, (2) his own father dragged him from the temple.
Mercātor quīdam fuit Syrācūsīs senex, eī sunt nātī (1) fīliī geminī duo, ita fōrma similī puerī, ut (2) māter sua nōn internōsse posset (Plautus) │ There was a certain old man, a merchant from Syracuse; to him (1) two twin sons were born so like in appearance that (2) their own mother could not tell them apart.
(1) C. enim Caesar vīllam in Herculānēnsī pulcherrimam, quia (2) māter sua aliquandō in illā cūstōdīta erat, dīruit (Seneca the Younger) │ For (1) Gaius Caesar destroyed a very beautiful villa near Herculaneum because (2) his mother had once been imprisoned in it
